Christopher Benton McLeod, a 29-year-old male from Carthage, North Carolina, was fatally shot on February 27, 2021, during a planned transaction in Hartsville, South Carolina. McLeod, who was involved in his family's licensed hemp farming business, had traveled to Hartsville with his father, Joseph Martin McLeod, to sell hemp products. The meeting, however, took a violent turn, leading to the untimely death of the young entrepreneur.
According to accounts from his father, Christopher had
a premonition of danger, expressing a 'bad feeling' about the arranged sale. The two had flown into the Hartsville airport for the meeting. During the interaction with the potential buyers, a firearm was discharged, and Christopher McLeod was struck in the abdomen. The individuals they were meeting with fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Despite the efforts of bystanders who administered CPR until law enforcement arrived, McLeod succumbed to his injuries.
The Darlington County Sheriff's Office launched a comprehensive investigation, which was soon followed by a large-scale manhunt for three suspects. The search involved a collaboration of multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Lee County and Chesterfield County Sheriff's Offices, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the U.S. Marshals Service, who utilized both bloodhounds and a helicopter in their efforts to locate the perpetrators.
The investigation led to the arrest of two suspects who were subsequently charged with murder. The first, Deangelo Marquell McFarland, was taken into custody on March 11, 2021. In addition to the murder charge, he also faced charges for possessing a stolen firearm and various drug offenses. A second suspect, Ronnie James McDougal Jr., turned himself in to the Darlington County Sheriff's Office on May 13, 2021, and was also charged with murder in connection with McLeod's death. In a related development, Christopher's father, Joseph Martin McLeod, was arrested at the scene on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and drug-related offenses. He was later released on bond.
